Explorer Superyacht — 65m New Build Galley

Project Overview: 65m Explorer Superyacht New Build Galley

This project was the complete galley design, specification and procurement management for a 65-metre expedition-class explorer superyacht built at a Dutch yard. The vessel was designed for extended range voyaging to high-latitude destinations including Arctic Norway, Greenland, the Canadian Arctic and Antarctic Peninsula — an operational profile that placed extraordinary demands on the galley specification in terms of provision storage capacity, equipment redundancy and serviceability in remote locations far from any professional kitchen equipment support infrastructure.

Project Brief: Designed for the World's Extremes

The owner's brief was unambiguous: the vessel must be capable of extended passages to any destination in the world, with a galley that can support twelve guests and eighteen crew at full culinary standard for the entire duration of even the most extended programme. No provisioning opportunity should be assumed. Equipment should be able to be serviced or repaired by the vessel's own engineer with parts carried aboard.

This brief fundamentally shaped every aspect of the specification — from the volume of provision storage (significantly larger than a Mediterranean charter equivalent would require) to the equipment selection (prioritising serviceability and redundancy over premium aesthetics) to the spare parts programme (the most comprehensive we have ever specified for a single vessel).

Equipment Specification Highlights

The 65-metre explorer galley specification included:

• Three combi ovens — two Rational iCombi Pro 20-grid as primary cooking units, plus one Unox BakerTop 16-tray as dedicated bakery and pastry oven. Three ovens provided true redundancy: a single oven failure left full cooking capacity intact
• Commercial cooking range — six-burner gas range retained alongside the induction options, providing gas cooking capability that does not depend on the vessel's electrical generation system during extended passages
• MKN FlexiChef — 100-litre induction FlexiChef for large-quantity wet cooking — braising, boiling and pressure cooking for the combined crew and guest meals during passage
• Provision storage — 1,200 litres of refrigeration across six independent circuits (two compressors per circuit for within-circuit redundancy); 600 litres of dedicated freezer capacity in three independent units; dedicated fish and game preparation cold room
• Blast chiller — Electrolux Professional 20-tray blast chiller for rapid cooling of large batch preparations during passage provisioning
• Warewashing — Hobart AMX hood-type dishwasher as primary; Winterhalter UC-L as backup and overflow; Winterhalter GS B glasswasher at the service bar
• Laundry — three Miele Marine professional washers and three dryers for the combined crew and guest linen volume

Provision Storage Design

The provision storage system for this vessel was the most complex element of the specification. We calculated provision requirements for a 21-day South Atlantic passage with 30 people aboard — the most demanding scenario in the vessel's anticipated programme. This produced a requirement for 1,800 person-days of provisions, which we mapped to a specific volume of each category of cold storage. The resulting specification required a dedicated provision store on the lower deck separate from the galley, accessed by a dedicated provision elevator to the galley level.

Project Outcome

The vessel completed its delivery voyage to the Norwegian Arctic in its first season, followed by a full season in the Canadian Arctic. The galley provisioning capacity, which had seemed generous at specification, proved precisely adequate for the extended programme. The redundant refrigeration circuits provided peace of mind but were not called upon — a testament to the equipment selection rather than a reflection of necessity. The three-oven specification allowed the chef team to run a full production programme throughout the passages, with the BakerTop providing fresh bread and pastry daily.